Thoughts about skating and the practice of everyday life

Rotate!

Whoa, those skates are sharp! I waited just a little too long this time around.

No need to think about how to get on an edge today; those sharp blades just take off. This gave me the opportunity to practice something Laurie and I have talked about a number of times: allowing my core to rotate naturally. This is particularly challenging on the left side, where I have been focusing all my attention on the three “S’s” of hip recovery: strong, straight, and square. Okay for getting the ol’ hip back in alignment, but not so good for improving the quality of my skating movement, which has taken a turn (groan!) towards those other “S” words: stiff, straitlaced, and scared silly.

What’s been happening is that I am not allowing the rotation to happen, and this constant checking amounts to fighting the edge and blocking myself. This is especially true of left back outside threes and left forward inside threes. On both of those, I have what feels like an inordinate amount of trouble allowing my body to rotate clockwise (hence my trouble turning my head to the right).

In the movie Zoolander, Derek Zoolander, played by Ben Stiller, has trouble turning to the left. That could indeed be me: I’m not an ambi-turner either!

But today I worked on lots of back swing rolls, practicing that good initial head position and constant state of rotation. And those creeping threes, of course.

I feel ya’ on the LFI threes! I have one in my freestyle program with an extended free leg, and it’s either I’m starting to turn before I really even step onto the edge, or I’m static on a flat and then hooking the turn. Neither one a good alternative! Then there’s trying to hold the edge after the turn. Lots to work on! Now if I could just get back on the ice… been off sick all week. Jo do you ever post video? Would love to see some of your dances!

Hope you feel better soon, Mary! Those threes are calling! I haven’t had any ice dancing videos of me taken recently, but if I get the opportunity I will post something–they are fun to share. I’ve enjoyed watching yours–keep ’em coming!